In electrophotographic processes requiring an image cylinder and a blanket cylinder to produce electrophotographic copies, the image cylinder typically receives a charge, an image and a toner coating on the image area and then transfers the toner image to a blanket cylinder. The blanket cylinder transfers the toner image to a substrate, such as paper or the like, which passes via a web between the blanket cylinder and a back pressure roller to transfer the toner image to the substrate with the substrate thereafter being fused, as well known to the art.
In such processes, the blanket cylinder is a cylinder that typically includes a mandrel, which may be of aluminum, steel or any other suitably durable metal or conductive polymer of a suitable thickness to produce a noncompliant member that may be about 10 millimeters (mm) in thickness. The mandrel may include reinforcing structure internally and includes a very smooth, low out-of-round tolerance exterior. The blanket cylinder includes a mandrel and a sleeve positioned over the outside of the mandrel and is used for transfer of the images from the blanket cylinder to a substrate. The mandrel also includes fittings connected to each of its ends for positioning it in an electrophotographic copying machine and has an air inlet into an interior of the mandrel for an air discharge through a plurality of holes placed around one end of the mandrel near a tapered end of the mandrel.
The sleeves have been produced by use of a metal core, which is typically a noncompliant metal member, such as nickel or the like, which is produced by plating. The core must be seamless and must provide a very low variation surface outer diameter. The polymer layer has been positioned around the outside of the metal core, the metal core is mounted on a mandrel or the like, and the polymer layer is machined to a desired thickness. Additional exterior coatings have been applied by techniques such as ring coating and the like. The completed sleeve will have an internal diameter slightly less (typically about 100 microns) than the outer diameter of the mandrel upon which it is to be placed. This interference fit allows the sleeve to be firmly positioned on the outside of the mandrel after it is installed. The sleeve must have a smooth exterior and a closely controlled wall thickness.
The sleeve is typically installed by urging it toward and onto the tapered end section of the mandrel while air is ejected through the holes at the end of the mandrel near the tapered section. The air injection permits the positioning of the sleeve on the mandrel by an air bearing technique as known to those skilled in the art. The interference fit between the sleeve and the mandrel is accomplished and the sleeve is retained snugly and firmly in position on the outside of the mandrel. The outside of the mandrel, including the sleeve, must have an outside diameter variation within a range of about +/−12.5 microns. This close tolerance is necessary to ensure accurate receipt of images from the image cylinder and accurate transmission of the images to the substrate by the blanket cylinder.
There are various other specific requirements for the blanket cylinder and it has been previously considered necessary to meet these other requirements as well as those discussed above by the use of a metal core in the sleeve. This is a relatively expensive, time-consuming step and the cores are relatively expensive. As a result, a continued effort has been directed to the development of methods for producing sleeves more economically that will meet the demanding requirements for the blanket cylinder sleeves.